Good morning, RVA! It’s 56 °F, and coolish temperatures remain today. Andrew Freiden says you can expect humidity to make its sticky return, though, and possibly bring with it some rain. Temperatures steadily increase from here straight on through to the middle of next week. Enjoy what looks to be a pretty great weekend!
 

Water cooler

As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports the seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths as: 130, 15, and 5.4, respectively. VDH reports a seven-day average of 13.3 new cases in and around Richmond (Richmond: 1.7; Henrico: 6.6, and Chesterfield: 5). Since this pandemic began, 1,352 people have died in the Richmond region. 46.0%, 57.5%, and 54.0% of the population in Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. I know we’re nearing the end of the usefulness of all these charts I have, but you should really take a look at this week’s stacked chart of new cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. Look at that precipitous drop in new cases and that strong steady decline in new hospitalizations! There are probably lots of reasons why we’re seeing these dramatic decreases, but they all match up pretty well with the middle of April, when Virginia opened up vaccination to the general public.
 

I like this line from a column in the Richmond Times-Dispatch about how scientists can and should reach out to folks who are hesitant about getting a COVID-19 vaccine, “To be clear, I am not shaming Thomas. I frequent Starbucks twice a day because I know that the vaccines are just as safe as my caramel latte.” I think a lot of the vaccine works over the next several months means making vaccination as regular, commonplace, and boring (but life-giving nonetheless) as your morning coffee.
 

Good morning, RVA! It’s 56 °F, and coolish temperatures remain today. Andrew Freiden says you can expect humidity to make its sticky return, though, and possibly bring with it some rain. Temperatures steadily increase from here straight on through to the middle of next week. Enjoy what looks to be a pretty great weekend!
 

Water cooler

As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports the seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths as: 130, 15, and 5.4, respectively. VDH reports a seven-day average of 13.3 new cases in and around Richmond (Richmond: 1.7; Henrico: 6.6, and Chesterfield: 5). Since this pandemic began, 1,352 people have died in the Richmond region. 46.0%, 57.5%, and 54.0% of the population in Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. I know we’re nearing the end of the usefulness of all these charts I have, but you should really take a look at this week’s stacked chart of new cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. Look at that precipitous drop in new cases and that strong steady decline in new hospitalizations! There are probably lots of reasons why we’re seeing these dramatic decreases, but they all match up pretty well with the middle of April, when Virginia opened up vaccination to the general public.
 

I like this line from a column in the Richmond Times-Dispatch about how scientists can and should reach out to folks who are hesitant about getting a COVID-19 vaccine, “To be clear, I am not shaming Thomas. I frequent Starbucks twice a day because I know that the vaccines are just as safe as my caramel latte.” I think a lot of the vaccine works over the next several months means making vaccination as regular, commonplace, and boring (but life-giving nonetheless) as your morning coffee.
 

Good morning, RVA! It’s 53 °F, and we have another beautiful day ahead of us. Expect a continued break from the humidity, highs in the mid 80s, and lots of opportunities to wander around your neighborhood. Enjoy, because tomorrow could bring a bit of rain.
 

Water cooler

As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports the seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths as: 130, 15, and 5.4, respectively. VDH reports a seven-day average of 13.3 new cases in and around Richmond (Richmond: 1.7; Henrico: 6.6, and Chesterfield: 5). Since this pandemic began, 1,352 people have died in the Richmond region. 45.9%, 57.4%, and 53.9% of the population in Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
 

As we talk more and more about variants, especially the delta variant, I wanted to surface this Variants of Concern dashboard on the VDH website (which is updated weekly on Fridays). You can see a pretty deep breakdown of infections, hospitalizations, and deaths by variant type. Variants are scary, especially the way in which they’re covered in the media sometimes, but two things reassure me: 1) Getting vaccinated is your best protection against all of the variants of concern at this point, and 2) thus far, just six people have been hospitalized as a result of the delta variant across the state. That’s a small number, but, of course, still certainly one worth keeping an eye on.
 

Good morning, RVA! It’s 53 °F, and we have another beautiful day ahead of us. Expect a continued break from the humidity, highs in the mid 80s, and lots of opportunities to wander around your neighborhood. Enjoy, because tomorrow could bring a bit of rain.
 

Water cooler

As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports the seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths as: 130, 15, and 5.4, respectively. VDH reports a seven-day average of 13.3 new cases in and around Richmond (Richmond: 1.7; Henrico: 6.6, and Chesterfield: 5). Since this pandemic began, 1,352 people have died in the Richmond region. 45.9%, 57.4%, and 53.9% of the population in Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
 

As we talk more and more about variants, especially the delta variant, I wanted to surface this Variants of Concern dashboard on the VDH website (which is updated weekly on Fridays). You can see a pretty deep breakdown of infections, hospitalizations, and deaths by variant type. Variants are scary, especially the way in which they’re covered in the media sometimes, but two things reassure me: 1) Getting vaccinated is your best protection against all of the variants of concern at this point, and 2) thus far, just six people have been hospitalized as a result of the delta variant across the state. That’s a small number, but, of course, still certainly one worth keeping an eye on.
 

Good morning, RVA! It’s 60 °F, and today’s weather forecast looks wonderful. Expect highs in the upper 70s and low humidity. It’s a great Wednesday to get outside!
 

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As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports the seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths as: 137, 22, and 5.6, respectively. VDH reports a seven-day average of 18.9 new cases in and around Richmond (Richmond: 2.7; Henrico: 9.6, and Chesterfield: 6.6). Since this pandemic began, 1,353 people have died in the Richmond region. 45.9%, 57.3%, and 53.8% of the population in Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
 

OK, the VDH dashboard caught up with the Governor, and, as of yesterday morning, now reports that 70.0% of Virginians 18 and older have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Unfortunately, America as a whole has not caught up, and yesterday the president’s team announced that the U.S. will not hit his 70% goal by July 4th. Like I’ve said many times over the last couple of weeks, this particular goal is fairly arbitrary anyway, and, even now, we’re pretty dang close (65.4% of Americans have received at least one dose). We’ll get there—and we’ll get even further—but it’ll take more time and a lot of hard work.
 

Good morning, RVA! It’s 77 °F, and, later today we should get a reprieve to the opressive heat. You can expect highs in the 80s, but rain should move in late morning or early afternoon to cool things down. Tomorrow’s forecast looks like a real winner, so get excited.
 

Water cooler

As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports the seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths as: 136, 21, and 6, respectively. VDH reports a seven-day average of 18.7 new cases in and around Richmond (Richmond: 0.9; Henrico: 11.9, and Chesterfield: 6). Since this pandemic began, 1,352 people have died in the Richmond region. 45.8%, 57.2%, and 53.7% of the population in Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
 

Despite the VDH dashboard’s stubborn refusal to tick over from 69.9% of adult Virginians with at least one dose to the full 70%, the Governor declared victory yesterday at Hope Pharmacy in the East End. From the release, “Virginia is the 16th state in the nation to meet this goal set by President Joe Biden in early May and reaches the key vaccination milestone two weeks ahead of the nationwide July 4 target. To date, over 8.8 million doses of vaccine have been administered in Virginia and more than 4.2 million individuals, or 60.3 percent of the population 18 and older, are fully vaccinated.” That’s pretty rad, and we’re seeing some good progress at the local level, too: 53.6%, 69.1%, and 65.9% of adults in Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield have had at least one dose. We should celebrate this local progress but also take these local number with a grain of salt. According to the dashboard, a full 1,080,323 people have not been “mapped,” which I assume means they aren’t tied to a locality. That’s 22% of all people with at least one dose! Doing some reprehensible napkin math and assuming that those one million untethered folks are distributed equally and evenly, (aka just adding 22% to the local-level percentages), we’d end up with 65.4%, 84.3%, and 80.4% of adults across our three localities with at least one dose. Now, of course, I have no reason to think that’s how the math would actually work out—in fact, the Richmond Times-Dispatch’s Sabrina Moreno reports that it may be weighted towards people living near the North Carolina border—but a million folks is a lot of people in a state with a total population of 8.5 million. Anyway, good work everyone, and good luck in the continued work!
 

Good morning, RVA! It’s already 74 °F, and today you can expect highs near 100 °F with Feels Likes above and beyond that. I love being outside, but, dang, not today. Stay cool, stay hydrated, and stay inside if you can.
 

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As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports the seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths as: 129, 21, and 6.3, respectively. VDH reports a seven-day average of 17 new cases in and around Richmond (Richmond: 0.9; Henrico: 10.6, and Chesterfield: 5.6). Since this pandemic began, 1,349 people have died in the Richmond region. 45.8%, 57.2%, and 53.7% of the population in Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
 

OK! I think, when VDH updates their COVID-19 dashboard later this morning, Virginia will have reached President Biden’s goal of 70% of adults with at least one dose of a vaccine! Right now, looking at yesterday’s numbers, the Commonwealth sits at 69.9%, and the Governor has an event scheduled at Hope Pharmacy in the East End this morning to “celebrate vaccination milestone.” That’s pretty good work, Virginia, as it looks like the country as a whole will not hit Biden’s goal by July 4th (and some states may not even hit the goal period). Of course, I immediately want to know where we go from here and what numbers I need to start putting in my spreadsheet next. I do wonder if July 4th and Biden’s “freedom from COVID” language is a sort of pandemic mission accomplished banner. Maybe I should take a hint and hang up the spreadsheet? But, for now, here is the graph of new people with at least one dose across the state and the graph of total people with at least one dose in Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield.
 

Good morning, RVA! It’s 58 °F, and today looks beautiful. Expect highs in the 80s, plenty of sunshine, and all the reason in the world to hold hands in the park. Temperatures increase over the long weekend, so get out there and enjoy it today.
 

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As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports the seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths as: 145, 27, and 10, respectively. VDH reports a seven-day average of 17.9 new cases in and around Richmond (Richmond: -0.3; Henrico: 9.9, and Chesterfield: 8.3). Since this pandemic began, 1,345 people have died in the Richmond region. 45.4%, 56.7%, and 53.2% of the population in Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Welp, we’ll have to wait until next week to see if Richmond’s miraculously negative cases sort themselves out.
 

OK! Virginia continues to creep closer and closer to President Biden’s vaccination goal—like, really, really closer. As of this morning, 69.4% of adult Virginians have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. I think, fingers crossed, by Wednesday we should have this thing in the bag. Then, I wonder, what the next fairly arbitrary goal will be? 70% of adults fully vaccinated? 70% of kids? 70% of everyone before the end of the year? Maybe something with booster shots? Like I keep saying, this next phase of vaccination work will be slower and more methodical, and, as much as they’re kind of made up, these point-in-time goals do create a way to regularly measure progress (and create a thing to write about in this section of the email multiple times each week).
 

Good morning, RVA! It’s 64 °F, and, dang, how nice was yesterday? Today you can expect more of the same with sunshine and highs in the 80s. Enjoy—for at least another day, too!
 

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As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports the seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths as: 134, 27, and 10.7, respectively. VDH reports a seven-day average of 11 new cases in and around Richmond (Richmond: -1.6; Henrico: 5.3, and Chesterfield: 7.3). Since this pandemic began, 1,345 people have died in the Richmond region. 45.2%, 56.5%, and 53.0% of the population in Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. I thought Richmond’s data would have sorted itself out by now, but, what do I know? VDH reports a negative number of cases in Richmond for five of the last nine days!
 

For fellow data humans, VDH has updated their vaccine dashboard to now include a map of percent of the adult population with at least one dose by locality. Because I’m sure you’re curious about how our region is progressing towards the Biden Goal: 52.9%, 68.4%, and 65.2% of adults in Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield have had at least one jab. Henrico definitely has a chance to hit the Biden Goal before July 4th, but I’m not too sure about RIchmond and Chesterfield. I have to keep reminding myself that this goal—and it’s impact on the health of our communities—is pretty arbitrary. There are lots of real, legitimate, and complex reasons why we see differing uptake rates across differing localities.
 

Good morning, RVA! It’s 65 °F, and, wow that was a lot of lightning in the storm that rolled through last night. I think, however, it brought with it cooler temperatures, because we can expect highs in the mid 80s today. NBC12’s Andrew Freiden says the next couple of days look stellar.
 

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As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports the seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths as: 140, 32, and 10.4, respectively. VDH reports a seven-day average of 11.3 new cases in and around Richmond (Richmond: 0.7; Henrico: 2.4, and Chesterfield: 8.1). Since this pandemic began, 1,343 people have died in the Richmond region. 45.1%, 56.4%, and 52.8% of the population in Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
 

Do you still need a reason to get vaccinated? How about this set of headlines: “Distorted, Bizarre Food Smells Haunt Covid Survivors,” “Many Post-Covid Patients Are Experiencing New Medical Problems, Study Finds,” or “Coronavirus infections dropping where people are vaccinated, rising where they are not.” While the least serious of these headlines, the first one terrifies me. I once lost my sense of smell for a week and it was awful—so much of eating is smell-related! Don’t lose your sense of smell or have it rewired by a coronavirus infection! Go get vaccinated today!
 

Good morning, RVA! It’s 64 °F, and today looks like another hot and humid day with a chance for storms later this afternoon. You can expect delightfully cooler temperatures the next couple of days, though!
 

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As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports the seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths as: 143, 30, and 10.1, respectively. VDH reports a seven-day average of 11.7 new cases in and around Richmond (Richmond: -0.1; Henrico: 3.3, and Chesterfield: 8.6). Since this pandemic began, 1,340 people have died in the Richmond region. 45.1%, 56.4%, and 52.8% of the population in Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. For what it’s worth, I have no idea what’s going on with Richmond’s case numbers. The VDH dashboard has reported a very small negative number of new cases for the past several days, and now we have a negative seven-day average of new cases. I suspect it’ll sort itself out later this week.
 

Well, we’re still a full percent short of President Biden’s goal of getting 70% of adults with at least on dose of a vaccine. I think, given the recent rates, we’ll be super close 10 days from now. Let’s check in next Thursday or Friday. Related, an interesting thing has happened with the graph of new people with at least one dose in Virginia: It has flattened out. Finally, here’s the graph of our region as a whole inching closer and closer towards (mostly) Biden’s goal.
 

Good morning, RVA! It’s 71 °F, and who’s excited for more of the same?? Today you can expect highs in the 80s and a chance for downpours. NBC12’s Andrew Freiden says we could catch a break this weekend, though.
 

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As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports the seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths as: 198, 31, and 7.7, respectively. VDH reports a seven-day average of 19.4 new cases in and around Richmond (Richmond: 3.9; Henrico: 6.6, and Chesterfield: 9). Since this pandemic began, 1,331 people have died in the Richmond region. 44.7%, 55.9%, and 52.3% of the population in Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. This week’s stacked chart is really something to look at—across the board you’ll see the lowest levels of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths pretty much since this pandemic began. I know a lot of folks are holding their breath until fall—when things took a turn last year—but, for now, the data is down and things are looking up!
 

Biden Goal update! With 68.5% of adults in Virginia with at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and one day to go, we’re definitely going to miss my projection of hitting 70% on June 12th. Honestly, at the current rate, hitting July 4th might turn out to be a photo-finish. Either way, this is a dumb thing to be so focused on! Vaccinating the rest of these folks will take long, slow, methodical work—like over the course of this entire year. Shouting about the president’s fairly arbitrary goal won’t get us there any faster (I will continue to shout about it for reasons I don’t really understand!).
 

Good morning, RVA! It’s 72 °F, and while we’ve got some cooler temperatures today with highs in the mid 80s, I think we’ve also got a decent chance of rain throughout. NBC12’s Andrew Freiden says to watch out for downpours this afternoon and evening.
 

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As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports the seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths as: 204, 34, and 7.7, respectively. VDH reports a seven-day average of 22.3 new cases in and around Richmond (Richmond: 6.3; Henrico: 6, and Chesterfield: 10). Since this pandemic began, 1,330 people have died in the Richmond region. 44.6%, 55.7%, and 52.1% of the population in Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Lots of folks, myself included, are nervous/keeping an eye on the rise of new COVID-19 variants (which the WHO has helpfully designated alpha, beta, gamma, and delta). Are our current vaccines effective against the variants? Can a variant “breakthrough” your vaccination? And, most importantly, if I’m vaccinated can a variant make me seriously ill or send me to the hospital? Unfortunately there’s not a ton of data out there to answer a lot of these questions, but Emily Oster has a good piece this morning running through some of them, and provides, as always, a good chunk of math to help you estimate your own risk.
 

Good morning, RVA! It’s 73 °F, and, guess what? More of the same! Expect hot, sticky highs in the 90s, with even hotter Feels Likes, plus a possibility for rain this evening. Cooler temperatures move in tomorrow, though!
 

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As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports the seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths as: 202, 35, and 8.4, respectively. VDH reports a seven-day average of 23.6 new cases in and around Richmond (Richmond: 7.7; Henrico: 6.4, and Chesterfield: 9.4). Since this pandemic began, 1,330 people have died in the Richmond region. 44.4%, 55.5%, and 51.9% of the population in Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
 

Biden Goal update! As of this morning, 68.2% of adult Virginians have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. So close! But gains of just 0.1% per day will push the Commonwealth’s target for hitting the 70% goal out to around June 26th. I’ve become irrationally interested in this number!
 

Good morning, RVA! It’s 72 °F, and today you can expect more of the same: Sticky, hot highs in the 90s. There’s a chance for some thunderstorms this afternoon, but it’s not a certainty. Cooler temperatures should show up on Thursday!
 

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As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports the seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths as: 185, 29, and 8.4, respectively. VDH reports a seven-day average of 21.4 new cases in and around Richmond (Richmond: 6.9; Henrico: 5.9, and Chesterfield: 8.7). Since this pandemic began, 1,330 people have died in the Richmond region. 44.3%, 55.4%, and 51.8% of the population in Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. The recent trend of exceedingly low numbers across the board continues. Yesterday, which was a Monday and keep in mind that Mondays typically have the fewest reported everythings of the week, saw just 90 new reported cases of COVID-19 across the entire state. Incredible. While I think it’s probably a combination of things, having more than half of folks vaccinated certainly helps (55.9% of the state!). I know this is obvious, but that means every other person you meet is either already vaccinated or well on their way, which I think is really neat. There are, of course, some geographic considerations to that last sentence. Check out the map of percent of the population with at least one dose and see how vaccination rates basically track with…the interstates? Before you suggest it, that map is not just a reflection of the population map, either. Nor is it exactly a map of race. I dunno! Honestly, it’s a pretty interesting map, and I’d love to hear thoughts on why some of these localities are leading Virginia’s vaccine rollout.
 

Today’s Biden Goal check: 68.1% of adult Virginians have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
 

Good morning, RVA! It’s 72 °F, and, after this past weekend’s blazing hot temperatures, we’ve got mostly more of the same today. Expect highs in the 90s—but with Feels Likes near 100 °F. Keep your water bottle nearby and prepare yourself for more of this over the next several days.
 

Water cooler

As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports the seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths as: 193, 32, and 9, respectively. VDH reports a seven-day average of 23.3 new cases in and around Richmond (Richmond: 7.6; Henrico: 6.6, and Chesterfield: 9.1). Since this pandemic began, 1,329 people have died in the Richmond region. 44.2%, 55.2%, and 51.5% of the population in Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. However, the slow work to vaccinate the remaining four million or so Virginians continues! Check out the graph of new folks vaccinated each day, and you can see that after whatever happened with the addition of federal doses (#datareportingissues), the graph has resumed a similarly-sloped slow decent. Still though, 67.8% of adults in the Commonwealth have received at least one does of the COVID-19 vaccine, and we’re well on track to hit Biden’s 70% by the 4th goal. You can see additional slow-but-steady progress in the graph of local vaccines administered by week. This next phase of the vaccine campaign is totally different! We should find ways to celebrate the progress we’re making at this new, more methodical pace. Graphs like this don’t help, he says to himself.
 

Good morning, RVA! It’s 72 °F, and, after this past weekend’s blazing hot temperatures, we’ve got mostly more of the same today. Expect highs in the 90s—but with Feels Likes near 100 °F. Keep your water bottle nearby and prepare yourself for more of this over the next several days.
 

Water cooler

As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports the seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths as: 193, 32, and 9, respectively. VDH reports a seven-day average of 23.3 new cases in and around Richmond (Richmond: 7.6; Henrico: 6.6, and Chesterfield: 9.1). Since this pandemic began, 1,329 people have died in the Richmond region. 44.2%, 55.2%, and 51.5% of the population in Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. However, the slow work to vaccinate the remaining four million or so Virginians continues! Check out the graph of new folks vaccinated each day, and you can see that after whatever happened with the addition of federal doses (#datareportingissues), the graph has resumed a similarly-sloped slow decent. Still though, 67.8% of adults in the Commonwealth have received at least one does of the COVID-19 vaccine, and we’re well on track to hit Biden’s 70% by the 4th goal. You can see additional slow-but-steady progress in the graph of local vaccines administered by week. This next phase of the vaccine campaign is totally different! We should find ways to celebrate the progress we’re making at this new, more methodical pace. Graphs like this don’t help, he says to himself.
 

Good morning, RVA! It’s 70 °F, and it looks rainy out there, y’all. You can continue to expect a chance of rain, on and off, for most of the day. Saturday and Sunday, though, look beautiful if rather hot. This weekend, enjoy some time outside, stay hydrated, and get some rest.
 

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As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports the seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths as: 229, 31, and 9.1, respectively. VDH reports a seven-day average of 28.7 new cases in and around Richmond (Richmond: 7.3; Henrico: 5.9, and Chesterfield: 15.6). Since this pandemic began, 1,329 people have died in the Richmond region. 43.8%, 54.8%, and 51.1% of the population in Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Here’s this week’s stacked chart of new cases, hospitalizations, and deaths, and you can, finally, really, totally, see a drop off in COVID-19-related deaths across the state. These are truly low numbers that we haven’t seen since last July. Now, with the power of a ton of folks being vaccinated, I’m hoping we’ll see those number fall even lower and stay there.
 

Speaking of the power of vaccines! I know that’s a lot of numbers up there to throw at you before you’ve had a sufficient amount of coffee, but I do want to point out that both Henrico and Chesterfield now have more than 50% of their population with at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Possibly related, or at least worth bringing up in that conversation, Sabrina Moreno at the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports on the low vaccine uptake among Black Richmonders who, at this point, make up the largest share of positive COVID-19 cases—75% of the city’s cases from April to May. It’s complicated stuff why a person may or may not choose to get vaccinated, and I encourage you to tap that link and read through some of the reasons.
 

Good morning, RVA! It’s 67 °F, and you should expect highs in the mid 70s and a chance of rain throughout today. We may even see some severe weather this afternoon or evening. Keep an ear out!
 

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As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports the seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths as: 243, 41, and 15.3, respectively. VDH reports a seven-day average of 32.9 new cases in and around Richmond (Richmond: 4.9; Henrico: 12.3, and Chesterfield: 15.7). Since this pandemic began, 1,329 people have died in the Richmond region. 42.8%, 53.3%, and 49.8% of the population in Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
 

Because I can’t not look at the number every day, 67.3% of adults in Virginia have received at least one dose of the vaccine. The New York Times can’t not look at these numbers either and has put together this fascinating table of “How long it would take each state to reach 70 percent of adults with one dose at the current vaccination pace.” Virginia: 13 days (which puts us four days past my estimate of June 12th). Alabama and Mississippi: More than a year. 40 states (plus D.C. and Puerto Rico) have not yet hit Biden’s 70% goal, and out of the ten that are projected to take the longest to get there, six are in the South and eight have Republican governors. The 12 states that have already hit the goal: California, Maryland, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Rhodesia Island, New Jersey, Maine, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Hawaii, and Vermont (just four Republican governors).
 

Good morning, RVA! It’s 58 °F, and you can expect temperate highs in the 80s today followed by a chance for storms this evening. Same deal for the next couple of days, too. Maybe most of the rain will miss us?
 

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As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports the seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths as: 262, 43, and 16.3, respectively. VDH reports a seven-day average of 29.9 new cases in and around Richmond (Richmond: 5.4; Henrico: 14.3, and Chesterfield: 10.1). Since this pandemic began, 1,328 people have died in the Richmond region. 43.5%, 54.3%, and 50.7% of the population in Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Good-looking averages continue! I do want to raise a tiny yellow flag that these numbers may go up in the coming days as folks shake of the long weekend and get back to entering data into spreadsheets. Prepare yourself for that, and don’t freak out too much if it happens.
 

As things here shift out of the pandemic and into whatever the next phase of American life looks like, I think it’s important to remember that a lot of places around the world are still fighting a horrible battle with COVID-19. Here’s a short New York Times piece checking in with the places across the globe who are shutting down schools and re-entering a summer lockdown.
 

Good morning, RVA! It’s 53 °F, and today looks lovely—in fact, NBC12’s Andrew Freiden say today’s your best day of the week weatherwise. Expect highs in the 80s, low humidity, and not a bit of rain. Looks like severe weather could be in the forecast later this week, though, so organize your out-of-doors calendar accordingly.
 

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As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports the seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths as: 347, 45, and 17.6, respectively. VDH reports a seven-day average of 44.6 new cases in and around Richmond (Richmond: 6.6; Henrico: 18, and Chesterfield: 20). Since this pandemic began, 1,329 people have died in the Richmond region. 43.5%, 54.3%, and 50.7% of the population in Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
 

Over in vaccine world, we are so, so close to reaching President Biden’s goal of 70% of adults with at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by July 4th. Right now, according to the VDH dashboard, 67.0% of Virginians 18 and and older have had their first jab. I’d said to mark your calendars for June 12th, but we may cross the 70% threshold even sooner. As per always, data reporting issues continue to ruin my pretty little graphs and have made unclear, at least to me, the picture of how many new people are getting vaccinated each day in the Commonwealth. That number’s not falling off a cliff though, so that’s something. Locally—defined as Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield—I don’t think we’ll hit Biden’s goal by the 4th, but we’ll be close. Check out our creeping progress towards (mostly) that goal on this chart. I can’t find daily, 18+ vaccination data for localities on VDH’s dashboard, so this is what I’ve got!
 

Good morning, RVA! It’s 65 °F, and we’ve got a cold front moving through this afternoon. Expect a chance of rain, maybe some thunderstorms, and then chilly temperatures—like in the 50s—until Monday. You probably need to find socks again.
 

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As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports the seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths as: 360, 37, and 12.3, respectively. VDH reports a seven-day average of 32.9 new cases in and around Richmond (Richmond: 4.9; Henrico: 14.3, and Chesterfield: 15.7). Since this pandemic began, 1,315 people have died in the Richmond region. 42.8%, 53.3%, and 49.8% of the population in Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Here’s this week’s stacked chart of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths. After the steep slide down from this winter’s horrible coronapeak, the last couple weeks of the statewide hospitalizations graph has to be one of the most hopeful charts I’ve seen in a while. Clearly fewer and fewer people are ending up in the hospital due to COVID-19, which is the whole point.
 

Well, without much fanfare, all of the Governor’s COVID-19 distancing and capacity restrictions lifted overnight. Here’s a tweet from the Governor which says, “All remaining COVID-19 mitigation measures related to distancing and capacity are lifted.” Here’s the newish Executive Order 79, which is mostly about masks, but does contain a line near the bottom about terminating Executive Order 72. If you were doing any of the the things in Executive Order 72—things like keeping tables six feet apart or limiting number of people at an indoor show—I guess you can just stop now? Seems like a big deal and like something folks will have lots of questions about moving forward. I…anticipate more from the Governor at some point. According to my inbox, at 10:00 AM today, the Governor will “join President Joe Biden to celebrate summer as Virginia lifts all COVID-19 distancing and capacity restrictions.”
 

Good morning, RVA! It’s 68 °F, and today looks hot—but not as hot as yesterday. Expect highs near 90 °F, and, luckily, NBC12’s Andrew Freiden says to expect less humidity soaking through your shirts.
 

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As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports the seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths as: 394, 40, and 13.6, respectively. VDH reports a seven-day average of 29.9 new cases in and around Richmond (Richmond: 5.4; Henrico: 14.3, and Chesterfield: 10.1). Since this pandemic began, 1,324 people have died in the Richmond region. 42.6%, 53.1%, and 49.6% of the population in Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. For whatever reason, Chesterfield actually reported -43 new cases yesterday, so that accounts for the significant drop in its seven-day average of new cases. Data Reporting: There’s always something.
 

Now that Virginia is so dang close to reaching President Biden’s goal of 70% of adults with at least one does by July 4th, I cannot stop watching the numbers slowwwwwly tick upwards. Two days ago 65.7% of Virginia’s adults had one dose, today 66.2%. Forgetting for a second that fewer people are making the decision to get vaccinated each day and pretending that we’ll just continue along at the same rate we’re seeing right now, we should hit Biden’s goal on June 12th. Mark your calendars (which is a thing I actually just did)!
 

Good morning, RVA! It’s 68 °F, and today you can expect too-hot highs in the 90s for much of the day. Later this evening we could see some severe thunderstorms roll through, but it won’t do much to cool things off. Temperatures return to springlike this weekend, so, until then, accept the sweat and stay hydrated!
 

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As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports the seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths as: 418, 39, and 13.6, respectively. VDH reports a seven-day average of 44.6 new cases in and around Richmond (Richmond: 6.6; Henrico: 18.0, and Chesterfield: 20.0). Since this pandemic began, 1,322 people have died in the Richmond region. 42.5%, 52.9%, and 49.4% of the population in Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. I rewrote the top of this email! What do you think? I may keep tweaking it over the next couple of weeks—thrilling stuff!
 

Yesterday, Moderna announced that it plans to submit some new data to the FDA and will seek Emergency Use Authorization for its COVID-19 vaccine for kids ages 12 through 17 in early June. The Washington Post has more details. This would be big news, even though we have loads of Pfizer laying around for this age group; the Pfizer vaccine is just so challenging to work with. Expanded authorization of Moderna would make things easier for folks on the ground who are still out there planning vaccination events and jabbing arms.
 

Good morning, RVA! It’s 61 °F, and highs today will stick around in the 80s. Tomorrow though, tomorrow you should expect unseasonably hot temperatures and all kinds of reasons to stay inside. If you want to get out and around, today’s your day!
 

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As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 76 new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 10 new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 12 new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 4, Henrico: 7, and Richmond: 1). Since this pandemic began, 1,320 people have died in the Richmond region. The seven-day average of new reported cases across the state sits at 378. Whoa! Look at these new numbers! Fewer than 100 new reported cases across the Commonwealth and single digit case counts in all three local jurisdictions. The last time my spreadsheet says that happened was over a year ago, on March 27th, just three days after I started tracking local numbers. What great news—let’s hope it continues!
 

Over in vaccine world, I can’t remember if I mentioned it or not, but the VDH vaccine dashboard now reports that over 50% of Virginians have received at least one dose of the vaccine (53.2%). And, maybe even more exciting if you’re into tracking progress towards quasi-arbitrary goals, 65.7% of adults have had at least one dose. With 40 days remaining, I think we’ll hit Biden’s 70% goal with time to spare. That’s more great news that I hope continues!
 

Good morning, RVA! It’s 71 °F already, and temperatures today should heat up just a little more. At some point, a cold(er) front will move through and maybe even bring some rain with it!
 

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As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 236 new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 9 new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 29 new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 7, Henrico: 16, and Richmond: 6). Since this pandemic began, 1,320 people have died in the Richmond region. The seven-day average of new reported cases across the state sits at 406. The NYT reports that, countrywide, new COVID-19 cases have dropped to levels not seen since last summer.
 

Over in vaccine world, first, check out the graph of new people in Virginia with at least one dose and see how a change in VDH’s reporting has made this graph…less satisfying to look at. A couple days back, VDH started including doses administered by the federal government into this dataset (specifically the Bureau of Prisons, Department of Defense, Indian Health Service, and Veterans Administration). This resulted in a massive, one-time spike and an unknown daily increase in folks with at least one dose. I’m bummed because now I can’t tell if the increase in folks getting their first dose is a result of this new reporting change or because a bunch of kids 12–15 decided to get vaccinated. Maybe that latter thing is better represented in this graph of total doses administered locally, in Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield. We’ve seen a pretty sizable increase in total jabs, and, while I have no way of knowing, doesn’t seem like it’s 100% explainable by adding in federal doses. Finally, I updated this graph to reflect progress towards 70% of local folks vaccinated instead of 75% (I also made it a bit easier on the eyes).
 

Good morning, RVA! It’s 51 °F, and you can expect highs in the mid 80s today. Looks like a pretty great start to a warm—or maybe just plain hot—weekend.
 

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As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 591 new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 20 new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 73 new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 40, Henrico: 22, and Richmond: 11). Since this pandemic began, 1,316 people have died in the Richmond region. The seven-day average of new reported cases across the state sits at 456. Here’s this week’s stacked graph of new cases, hospitalizations, and deaths across the state. I’m not really sure what’s going on with the deaths graph, which has stalled out on a plateau, but hospitalizations show a definite decrease over the past two weeks. As we all know, and this is just one of the weird things we all just know now, but deaths due to COVID-19 generally lag behind hospitalizations by a couple weeks. We’re seeing the same drop in cases reflected locally, too. In fact, Richmond had a single-digit case count seven times over the last three weeks. I don’t know when it’ll happen, but there will be a time when, combined, our entire region reports daily single-digit case counts with zero deaths in a week (this week, Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield reported 12 deaths).
 

I think we all expected this and it definitely sounds like a sign of things to come for college students across the commonwealth, but UVA announced that “all students who live, learn, or work in person at the University during the next academic year must be fully vaccinated before returning to [campus], starting July 1.” I haven’t seen similar statements from VCU or UR, but I certainly expect them soon.
 

Good morning, RVA! It’s 51 °F, and you can expect highs in the mid 80s today. Looks like a pretty great start to a warm—or maybe just plain hot—weekend.
 

Water cooler

As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 591 new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 20 new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 73 new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 40, Henrico: 22, and Richmond: 11). Since this pandemic began, 1,316 people have died in the Richmond region. The seven-day average of new reported cases across the state sits at 456. Here’s this week’s stacked graph of new cases, hospitalizations, and deaths across the state. I’m not really sure what’s going on with the deaths graph, which has stalled out on a plateau, but hospitalizations show a definite decrease over the past two weeks. As we all know, and this is just one of the weird things we all just know now, but deaths due to COVID-19 generally lag behind hospitalizations by a couple weeks. We’re seeing the same drop in cases reflected locally, too. In fact, Richmond had a single-digit case count seven times over the last three weeks. I don’t know when it’ll happen, but there will be a time when, combined, our entire region reports daily single-digit case counts with zero deaths in a week (this week, Richmond, Henrico, and Chesterfield reported 12 deaths).
 

I think we all expected this and it definitely sounds like a sign of things to come for college students across the commonwealth, but UVA announced that “all students who live, learn, or work in person at the University during the next academic year must be fully vaccinated before returning to [campus], starting July 1.” I haven’t seen similar statements from VCU or UR, but I certainly expect them soon.
 

Good morning, RVA! It’s 54 °F, and, whoa, today you can expect highs around 90 °F. That sounds a lot like summer! Stay cool, and stay hydrated.
 

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As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 491 new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 6 new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 58 new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 26, Henrico: 27, and Richmond: 5). Since this pandemic began, 1,311 people have died in the Richmond region. The seven-day average of new reported cases across the state sits at 454. How have y’all—at least those of you who are fully vaccinated—been handling the new mask guidance? I’ve been to a couple of place since the Governor brought Virginia’s mask policy inline with the CDC, and I’ve continued to wear a mask whenever I go indoors. Thus far I’ve not been met with looks or confronted about how it’s technically no longer necessary—but I am a white guy, which means my experience in the world is way different than a lot of folks. Honestly, I feel pretty comfortable and safe settling into a summer of outdoor hangs and quick, masked-up errands inside (I do realize this has been a lot of folks' reality for the past year). Part of this new-to-me freedom only comes because my son is 12-years-old and has already had his first shot. Parents of younger kids don’t necessarily have the same feeling of freedom and are caught in a guidance no-man’s land, which is frustrating. Emily Oster addresses it in her newsletter today, saying “CDC: Could you please, please provide some more guidance for those of us with kids under 12, who cannot be vaccinated? And especially for those with kids under 2?” She also points to this piece in the New York Times by David Leonhardt who asks similar questions.
 

Over in vaccine world, I missed an important milestone: Over 50% of all Virginians have receive at least one dose of a COIVD-19 vaccine! That’s huge! Perhaps even huger, 64.3% of adults have had at least one dose—which is already pretty dang close to Biden’s goal of having 70% of adults with at least one dose by July 4th. Here’s a look locally at percentage of total population with at least one dose: Richmond, 41.2%; Henrico, 50.8%; and Chesterfield, 47.7%.
 

Good morning, RVA! It’s 50 °F, and today looks great. Expect highs in the mid 80s and sunshine. Make sure you remember to water your plants, OK?
 

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As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 378 new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 13 new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 55 new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 33, Henrico: 19, and Richmond: 3). Since this pandemic began, 1,309 people have died in the Richmond region. The seven-day average of new reported cases across the state sits at 464. As I mentioned yesterday, you should continue to take these numbers with a grain of salt as things get back on track after a weekend of server maintenance and the ol' Data Reporting Issues. One thing I do wish I’d started tracking last week—and will add a column for somewhere in my spreadsheet—is the number of 10–19 year olds with at least one dose (currently 184,778). That’s a weird age range to bucket, given the eligibility requirements of the various vaccines, but you take what the dashboard gives, ya know? Anyway, vaccine uptake in children is really fascinating to me, and I’m interested to see how quickly (or slowly) it grows.
 

Good morning, RVA! It’s 47 °F, and today looks lovely. Expect highs around 80 and some sunshine. NBC12’s Andrew Freiden says we need rain, which some of my plants would agree with, but, dang, it’s just so pleasant out.
 

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As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 272 new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 11 new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 39 new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 15, Henrico: 12, and Richmond: 11). Since this pandemic began, 1,309 people have died in the Richmond region. The seven-day average of new reported cases across the state sits at 496. OK, OK, grain of salt with these numbers. While, the VDH dashboard is officially back online, I am skeptical of any and all numbers reported by said dashboard for the next couple of days. I imagine it’s hard for staff to enter in new data during extended periods of server maintenance.
 

Now that the coronanumbers are flowing agin, I’ve got this week’s vaccine graphs for you to flip through. First, the number of new people each day in Virginia with at least one dose continues to decrease. I don’t think this graph yet reflects the change in eligibility that allowed kids 12–15 to get their first Pfizer doses, so stay tuned for at least a tiny bump. I feel like, at some point, this graph should start to flatten out in a long-tail way, right? Second, here’s the graph showing the number of doses administered in our region by week, and you can see that it’s a pretty decent reflection of the previous graph. Finally, here’s our region’s progress towards my own fairly arbitrary goal of 75% of total people with at least one dose. I think sometime this week I’ll update this graph to reflect President Biden’s goal of having 70% of adults with at least one dose by July 4th.
 

Good morning, RVA! It’s 48 °F, and cloudy. You can expect pleasant temperatures in the mid 70s for most of the day, despite the lack of extreme sunshine.
 

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As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports…something. VDH had some server maintenance done over the weekend, which meant their data dashboards went 404 for the past couple of days. They’re sort of up now, showing screenshots for most of the dashboard pages, but, like, you can’t scroll down on any of them and that makes finding “Richmond’ in an alphabetically sorted list a challenge. I’m missing data in my spreadsheet since Thursday, so expect numbers and chartsandgraphs to be weird for a while.
 

This past Friday afternoon, Governor Northam “lifted Virginia’s universal indoor mask mandate to align with new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.” He recorded a short video of the announcement, too, if you’d rather hear his soft Eastern Shore drawl than read a press release this morning. The gist is the same as what we went over last week: If you’re fully vaccinated you can do whatever, whenever with a handful of exceptions (transit, health care facilities, and a few other spots). Additionally, businesses can still choose to require masks, so pay attention before you saunter into a place maskless. The Governor also announced that he’ll “ease all distancing and capacity restrictions on Friday, May 28th.” That’s two weeks earlier than planned and right before Memorial Day weekend—an, I’m sure, not unrelated fact. Until the 28th, though, we’re stuck in this limboland of mixed messaging around who can do what and for what reasons. Can I pack a big room full of maximally vaccinated people? I think the Governor’s restrictions prevent it, but the guidance says it’d be fine. Confusing. Regardless of how you feel about the sudden lurch in masking guidance, we’ll have a lot more clarity at the end of this month. I like how President Biden put it: “The rule is now simple: Get vaccinated or wear a mask until you do.”
 

Good morning, RVA! It’s 41 °F, but today’s forecast looks incredible. Expect highs in the mid 70s from this morning straight through until this evening. Saturday looks equally incredibly, but we might see some rain move in on Sunday. Get your rides, runs, rolls, or walks in tomorrow!
 

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As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 579 new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 27 new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 62 new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 30, Henrico: 17, and Richmond: 15). Since this pandemic began, 1,302 people have died in the Richmond region. The seven-day average of new reported cases across the state sits at 619. Alright, dang, we have a lot of coronanews to get through this morning—and none of it is directly related to vaccines! First, here are this week’s stacked graph of new reported cases, hospitalizations, and deaths, plus the combined graph of the regional seven-day average of new reported cases. Both graphs, in all ways, show big, good drops across the board. I’m sure these graphs, or ones just like them, are why the governor will loosen a bunch of restrictions on gatherings beginning tomorrow, May 15th. Did you want to hang out with 1,000 people in a 2,000-capacity room? Tomorrow you can!
 

And maybe soon, depending on your vaccination status, you can even hang out with those 1,000 people in a room while not wearing a mask. Yesterday, the CDC announced a major change in their mask-wearing guidance for folks who have been fully vaccinated: “You can resume activities without wearing a mask or staying 6 feet apart, except where required by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules, and regulations, including local business and workplace guidance.” There are a few caveats—like while traveling, riding transit, or in a healthcare setting—but, basically, if you’re fulling vaccinated CDC says you can go maskless wherever, whenever. If we’re getting pedantic about it, it does sound like the Governor’s current mask-related Executive Order supersedes this guidance, meaning you are still requried to mask-up while indoors in Virginia. But I’m sure the Gov’s legislative brains are quickly throwing together a new update to that EO given this tweet from him last night: “Virginia will continue to follow CDC guidelines as we have done throughout this pandemic. We are reviewing the new mask and distancing recommendations and will update our guidance accordingly.” I have a lot of questions! What does the lack of distance requirements mean for schools—or really any event with an indoor capacity cap? What about people who can’t get vaccinated—which until yesterday included every American under the age of 16? How will “fully vaccinated” be verified or enforced? Check out this ominous quote about the Governor of Oregon in the New York Times: “Gov. Kate Brown of Oregon emphasized that the state would not be operating on an honor system. She said that the health department would soon provide fresh guidance for businesses, employers and others ‘to allow the option of lifting mask and physical distancing requirements after verifying vaccination status.’” At it’s core, I think “the vaccines are so good that if you’re fully vaccinated you can live your life” is true, backed-by-science, and strong messaging. I still have lots of questions around the edges, though. If you’ve been waiting, now is as good of a time as any to visit vax.rchd.com or vaccines.gov and schedule an appointment to get vaccinated.
 

Good morning, RVA! It’s 42 °F, and chilly out. But, as promised, warmer weather returns this afternoon with sunshine and temperatures in the 70s. I’m excited because we could have some seriously A+ porch-sitting weather later in the evening.
 

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As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 561 new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 15 new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 69 new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 35, Henrico: 26, and Richmond: 8). Since this pandemic began, 1,296 people have died in the Richmond region. The seven-day average of new reported cases across the state sits at 658. The last time we had a seven-day average of new reported cases under 700 was July 11th!
 

Two big pieces of vaccine news this morning! The first, after all of the necessary governing bodies gave their OKs yesterday (FDA —> ACIP —> CDC —> VDH), kids ages 12–15 are now eligible to get the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. The efficacy of this vaccine seen in these youth trials was 100%, which is a lot of percents. Parents and caregivers have three main ways to find a Pfizer jab for their tween or teen. First, check out vaccines.gov (née vaccinefinder.org) to find a list of pharmacies near you that offer the Pfizer vaccine. Be aware that just because a pharmacy has Pfizer in stock, doesn’t necessarily mean they have appointments available—this is less of a concern now given the amount of vaccine floating around, though. Second, if you have one, you can call your pediatrician to see if they’re offering the vaccine to existing kid patients. Third, you can attend any of the Richmond and Henrico Health Districts’ Pfizer events. I think this age group of kids was in the unique position—and I’m biased because I have one—of being old enough to really understand the impact of COVID-19 and understand what it meant to be denied the opportunity to get vaccinated. I’m excited for them, even if the one I’m related to refuses to express any emotions about it other than a single grumpy shrug.
 

Good morning, RVA! It’s 42 °F, and chilly out. But, as promised, warmer weather returns this afternoon with sunshine and temperatures in the 70s. I’m excited because we could have some seriously A+ porch-sitting weather later in the evening.
 

Water cooler

As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 561 new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 15 new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 69 new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 35, Henrico: 26, and Richmond: 8). Since this pandemic began, 1,296 people have died in the Richmond region. The seven-day average of new reported cases across the state sits at 658. The last time we had a seven-day average of new reported cases under 700 was July 11th!
 

Two big pieces of vaccine news this morning! The first, after all of the necessary governing bodies gave their OKs yesterday (FDA —> ACIP —> CDC —> VDH), kids ages 12–15 are now eligible to get the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. The efficacy of this vaccine seen in these youth trials was 100%, which is a lot of percents. Parents and caregivers have three main ways to find a Pfizer jab for their tween or teen. First, check out vaccines.gov (née vaccinefinder.org) to find a list of pharmacies near you that offer the Pfizer vaccine. Be aware that just because a pharmacy has Pfizer in stock, doesn’t necessarily mean they have appointments available—this is less of a concern now given the amount of vaccine floating around, though. Second, if you have one, you can call your pediatrician to see if they’re offering the vaccine to existing kid patients. Third, you can attend any of the Richmond and Henrico Health Districts’ Pfizer events. I think this age group of kids was in the unique position—and I’m biased because I have one—of being old enough to really understand the impact of COVID-19 and understand what it meant to be denied the opportunity to get vaccinated. I’m excited for them, even if the one I’m related to refuses to express any emotions about it other than a single grumpy shrug.
 

Good morning, RVA! It’s 52 °F, and today’s highs will float around in the 60s. The sun will poke it’s head out of the clouds at some point this morning, and the next couple of days look like they’ll bring warmer weather.
 

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As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 600 new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 17 new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 67 new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 36, Henrico: 23, and Richmond: 8). Since this pandemic began, 1,295 people have died in the Richmond region. The seven-day average of new reported cases across the state sits at 699.
 

Over in vaccine world, I’ve got three things to share. First, remember that today the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices will meet and most likely vote on authorizing the Pfizer vaccine for kids 12–15 years old. I’d bet VDH will move quickly following ACIP’s vote, so get ready parents, caregivers, teens, and tweens. Second, the New York Times asked a bunch of epidemiologists what they’re doing out in the world now that they’re fully vaccinated. Hiking with friends? Totally. Attending a wedding or a funeral? Not so much. Keep in mind that even though they have big science brains, epidemiologists are (mostly) people, too, and will have some of the same issues with reemerging into the world after a year of hibernation as the rest of us. Finally, also in the New York Times, a look at this “third group” of folks—people who aren’t necessarily vaccine hesitant, don’t have any of the classic barriers to access, but still haven’t gotten an appointment yet…because. That sounds snarky, but it’s not. People are busy living life and finding time to make it out to a pharmacy or one of the region’s vaccination sites is a lot of work for some folks. This quote sums it up: “I know you’re trying to find out the reason people aren’t doing it…I’m going to tell you. People are trying to take care of their household. You don’t have much time in the day.”
 

Good morning, RVA! It’s 45 °F, and after this morning’s clouds clear, today looks pretty great. Expect highs in the 70s, some sunshine, and a chance to spend some time outside in a garden.
 

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As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 336 new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 7 new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 36 new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 16, Henrico: 15, and Richmond: 5). Since this pandemic began, 1,295 people have died in the Richmond region. The seven-day average of new reported cases across the state sits at 723. I say don’t get too distracted by today’s extremely low number of new reported cases (just 14 new reported hospitalizations and 7 new reported deaths, too). Keep your eyes on those seven day averages, which, thankfully, also continue to decrease.
 

Last night, the FDA authorized the Pfizer vaccine for emergency use in kids 12–15. Amazing! The next step here is for the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to give Pfizer For Kids the go ahead, and then pharmacies, pediatricians, and health departments across the country can start vaccinating tweens and teens. ACIP has a meeting scheduled for Wednesday, which you can watch live if you really want! I’d expect a similar announcement from the FDA about Moderna, too, in the coming weeks. I also wanted to mention two round numbers that our stupid human brains, for some reason, are designed to care about: over 4 million Virginians have received at least one dose of the vaccine and over 3 million Virginians are fully vaccinated.
 

Good morning, RVA! It’s 45 °F, and after this morning’s clouds clear, today looks pretty great. Expect highs in the 70s, some sunshine, and a chance to spend some time outside in a garden.
 

Water cooler

As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 336 new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 7 new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 36 new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 16, Henrico: 15, and Richmond: 5). Since this pandemic began, 1,295 people have died in the Richmond region. The seven-day average of new reported cases across the state sits at 723. I say don’t get too distracted by today’s extremely low number of new reported cases (just 14 new reported hospitalizations and 7 new reported deaths, too). Keep your eyes on those seven day averages, which, thankfully, also continue to decrease.
 

Last night, the FDA authorized the Pfizer vaccine for emergency use in kids 12–15. Amazing! The next step here is for the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to give Pfizer For Kids the go ahead, and then pharmacies, pediatricians, and health departments across the country can start vaccinating tweens and teens. ACIP has a meeting scheduled for Wednesday, which you can watch live if you really want! I’d expect a similar announcement from the FDA about Moderna, too, in the coming weeks. I also wanted to mention two round numbers that our stupid human brains, for some reason, are designed to care about: over 4 million Virginians have received at least one dose of the vaccine and over 3 million Virginians are fully vaccinated.
 

Good morning, RVA! It’s 65 °F, and it looks like you should expect some rain at some point today—probably this morning, maybe this evening. Temperatures should stay right about where they are for most of the day.
 

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As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 539 new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 10 new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 96 new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 52, Henrico: 28, and Richmond: 16). Since this pandemic began, 1,295 people have died in the Richmond region. The seven-day average of new reported cases across the state sits at 762. Precipitous! The number of new reported cases continues to drop, and, over the weekend, the seven-day average of new hospitalizations fell off the around-60-per-day plateau. While certainly not the case across the entire world, these numbers and trends are encouraging. Almost 50% of all Virginians have at least one dose of the vaccine, and we haven’t even gotten to people under the age of 16 yet!
 

Over in vaccine world, I’m starting to put together a nice little collection of vaccine-related graphs. First, the chart of new people with at least one dose in Virginia continues to show a nearly linear day-to-day decline. It’s not awesome, but it is fascinating. Second, the region administered fewer doses last week than it has in months. Again, not awesome, but I think to be expected. Like I said last week, the shift away from mass vaccination sites to clever, targeted vaccination efforts will come with a slower vaccination rate. That means more “work” per vaccine given, but it’s still good and important work. Third, here’s the graph our our steady march to “regional herd immunity” which is not really a thing, but tracking our progress to having 70% of the region with at least one dose is still useful I think. Remember: If you haven’t gotten your shot yet, you can head over to George Wythe High School on Wednesdays and get your one-and-done Johnson & Johnson vaccine with absolutely zero appointment or forethought required.
 

Good morning, RVA! It’s 44 °F, and you can expect slightly cooler temperatures today. At some point, it’ll probably rain, but the weekend weather looks thoroughly rad. I expect to spend a good chunk of my time riding bikes around the region.
 

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As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 856 new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 17 new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 80 new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 38, Henrico: 21, and Richmond: 21). Since this pandemic began, 1,293 people have died in the Richmond region. The seven-day average of new reported cases across the state sits at 865. This week’s stacked chart of new reported cases, hospitalizations, and deaths really illustrates the—and this is the only word I can think of so I keep using it—precipitous drop off of new cases. It’s incredible, and we saw almost the same exact drop off last year, just in June not May. I’d love some analysis on this (someone should plot the new reported cases graph against temperature)! As for the rest of the charts, we know from the last 12 months that hospitalizations usually lag a couple weeks behind cases, so maybe we’ll start to see those number dip from their weekslong stay on atop the around-60-per-day plateau. Finally, here’s this week’s local graph of new reported cases, which, thankfully, matches the statewide trends.
 

Sabrina Moreno at the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports that yesterday Governor Northam announced he “hopes to lift emergency restrictions on public gatherings and social distancing by June 15th.” Importantly, this does not include guidelines around wearing masks! The Governor also “warned that progress in ending public restrictions and, potentially, the state of emergency depends on adult Virginians getting vaccinations to help achieve President Joe Biden’s new goal of having 70% of the population vaccinated by July 4 to achieve herd immunity against the disease.” Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t think this kind of governmental finger-wagging does anything to motivate folks on the fence about getting vaccinated. In fact, most of those people are probably out living their (terrifying) carefree, maskless, indoor-gathering lives regardless of the current restrictions. I keep thinking about these three buckets of unvaccinated people: those with real and legitimate reasons to be hesitant toward vaccines, those with barriers preventing them from accessing the vaccine, and those who are just kind of living life and—maybe because they’re young and healthy—haven’t really made the effort to go find a vaccination appointment. I don’t have a sense for how big each of these buckets are, but making it dead simple to get vaccinated addresses at least two of those groups and should be the focus of the next phase of our vaccination campaign. It’ll be way slower than queueing up thousands of people at the Raceway each and every day, but I think that’s OK. You can watch a recording of the Governor’s announcements over on VPM’s YouTube.
 

Good morning, RVA! It’s 50 °F, and today’s weather looks excellent. Expect highs near 70 °F and no rain. Get out there, and let the sun recharge your battery.
 

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As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 842 new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 21 new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 85 new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 46, Henrico: 33, and Richmond: 6). Since this pandemic began, 1,290 people have died in the Richmond region. The seven-day average of new reported cases across the state sits at 912. No idea what he’ll say, but the governor will hold a press conference today at 11:00 AM to “provide updates on the Commonwealth’s response to COVID-19 and vaccination program.” I don’t see a placeholder for it yet, but you can most likely stream the event live from VPM’s YouTube. Since we’ve got a sizeable loosening of coronarestrictions headed our way on May 15th, I’d wager that he’ll mostly speak on the State’s vaccination program. Maybe he’ll talk through the new walk-up options at CVS that fall in line with President Biden’s announcements earlier this week?
 

Over in vaccine world, Cameron Thompson at WTVR reports that Henrico County will host their last mass vaccination event at the Raceway on May 27th. Between now and then you can just walk on up—no appointments required—on the 11th, 12th, 19th, 20th, 26th, and 27th and get yourself vaccinated. Remember: You can also walk up to George Wythe High School on Wednesdays for a one-and-done Johnson & Johnson shot. Closing the Raceway, of course, does not mean that all of Henrico County got jabbed and is now good to go. It means that demand has dipped and public-health humans will need to change things up in clever ways to make it as easy as possible for the rest of the region to get vaccinated. Thompson grabbed this perfect quote from someone at yesterday’s walk-up event at Wythe: “I kept saying I was going to make an appointment, make an appointment, never did. But, once I’ve seen this become available I just decided to jump on.” I wouldn’t call this vaccine hesitancy, I would call it “people have lives to lead and hopping through technology hoops to find inconvenient vaccination appointments at a hard-to-reach racetrack doesn’t work for some folks.”
 

Good morning, RVA! It’s 64 °F, and you can expect another day like yesterday: Hot highs, a chance for brief-but-severe weather, and cooler temperatures following. Looking at the forecast for the next couple of days and it’s highs in the 70s as far as the eye can see!
 

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As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 771 new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 16 new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 87 new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 44, Henrico: 30, and Richmond: 13). Since this pandemic began, 1,288 people have died in the Richmond region. The seven-day average of new reported cases across the state sits at 952. Another day, another report of even fewer new cases of COVID-19—this is great news. I am a little skeptical of these numbers—not a ton! just a little!—if only because we’ve seen big fluctuations in the past due to Data Reporting Issues. Plus, the number of vaccines administered reported locally lately is real, real low, which makes me go hmmmm.
 

The New York Times has good coverage of President Biden’s announcement that he’ll shift the country’s vaccination strategy in hopes to get 70% of adults at least one dose of the vaccine by July 4th. As demand for the vaccine falls, Biden wants to focus on walk-ups, pop-ups, and mobile events. Lucky for us, locally, the Richmond and Henrico Health District are already doing all of these things. In fact, there’s a walk-up event today at George Wythe High School from 11:00 AM–4:00 PM. Just show up, no appointment required, and get your one-and-done Johnson & Johnson vaccine. I think we’ll need to continue this focus on clever, proactive, and methodical outreach over the next few months—I mean, look at this graph of new people in Virginia with at least one dose.
 

Good morning, RVA! It’s 65 °F, and today’s weather looks a lot like yesterday’s. Expect highs in the 90s and a chance for thunderstorms later in the day. Stay cool, stay dry, and stay safe.
 

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As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 611 new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 16 new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 90 new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 35, Henrico: 29, and Richmond: 26). Since this pandemic began, 1,286 people have died in the Richmond region. The seven-day average of new reported cases across the state sits at 999. Whoa, what’s this? A barely three-digit seven-day average of new reported cases! The last time that happened was way back on October 20th. This, for some brains-are-weird reason, feels like real progress to me. The number of deaths is still pretty high, though. I know I’ve done the flu-comparison math before, but I think it’s helpful to revisit it. According to the CDC, Virginia had an “influenza/pneumonia” death rate of 11 per 100,000 people back in 2019. If you take today’s seven-day average of COVID-19 deaths (14.4), multiply it by 365 (5,256), and then divided it by 85.35 (the state’s population divided by 100,000), you get 61.58. According to this quick and shoddy math, that’s a coronadeath rate about 5.6 times higher than that of the 2019 flu. That year, 1,100 people died from “influenza/pneumonia”, which is about three people per day, if you want to look at it that way.
 

Huge vaccine news in the New York Times: “The Food and Drug Administration is preparing to authorize use of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine in adolescents 12 to 15 years old by early next week.” Dang that was fast! I have no idea how many 12–15 year olds exist in Virginia or in our region, but I’m sure it’s thousands and thousands—and I’m sure many of them are stoked to get vaccinated (including the one I live with). The NYT also says to expect a similar announcement from Moderna soon. Get excited for another, smaller flurry of vaccine news and for some interesting reporting on what adolescent vaccination means for this fall’s school year.
 

Good morning, RVA! It’s 36 °F, but today—and the next several days—looks amazing. Expect highs in the 70s until at least Friday and lows no lower than somewhere in the 50s. With the sun setting after 6:00 PM, there’s a real and good opportunity to knock off of work a bit early and spend some time outside. Do it!
 

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As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 892 new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 87 new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 90 new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 37, Henrico: 33, and Richmond: 20). Since this pandemic began, 1,125 people have died in the Richmond region. Whoa, a triple digit case count. Haven’t seen one of those since the end of October.
 

Yesterday, the Richmond and Henrico Health Districts, along with the Chesterfield and Chickahominy Health Districts, announced that they’ve expanded vaccine eligibility to more folks in Phase 1b. For Richmond, Henrico, and Chickahominy that’s all of Phase 1b, for Chesterfield that’s just frontline essential workers groups one through six. So, to put it all in one place: Eligible folks in Richmond and Henrico now include people over the age of 65, frontline essential workers from all 11 groups, and people aged 16–64 with underlying conditions or disabilities that increase their risk of severe illness from COVID-19. That’s a lot of humans—almost half of all Virginians! Additionally, the Richmond and Henrico Health Districts included “food service” folks in 1b (previously part of 1c), which includes restaurant staff—both front and back of house. That’s a big deal, I think! Sabrina Moreno at the Richmond Times-Dispatch has some of the details, including the rationale for shifting restaurant workers up into 1b: “…tight workspaces among restaurant workers—where social distancing from customers without masks is almost impossible, create a high-risk environment for COVID-19. Most food service workers are uninsured or underinsured and lack paid sick leave…many areas of Richmond and Henrico are underserved by grocery stores, restaurants are often important points of access to food for lower-income communities.” At the moment, and, with any luck, for the foreseeable future, vaccine supply is plentiful, but, should it become constrained again, you can read how the Richmond and Henrico Health District will equitably prioritize vaccine doses across all of these newly eligible folks. Your next step, should you want to be vaccinated: Fill out the statewide pre-registration form so you can get in the system!
 

Good morning, RVA! It’s 36 °F, but today—and the next several days—looks amazing. Expect highs in the 70s until at least Friday and lows no lower than somewhere in the 50s. With the sun setting after 6:00 PM, there’s a real and good opportunity to knock off of work a bit early and spend some time outside. Do it!
 

Water cooler

As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 892 new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 87 new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 90 new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 37, Henrico: 33, and Richmond: 20). Since this pandemic began, 1,125 people have died in the Richmond region. Whoa, a triple digit case count. Haven’t seen one of those since the end of October.
 

Yesterday, the Richmond and Henrico Health Districts, along with the Chesterfield and Chickahominy Health Districts, announced that they’ve expanded vaccine eligibility to more folks in Phase 1b. For Richmond, Henrico, and Chickahominy that’s all of Phase 1b, for Chesterfield that’s just frontline essential workers groups one through six. So, to put it all in one place: Eligible folks in Richmond and Henrico now include people over the age of 65, frontline essential workers from all 11 groups, and people aged 16–64 with underlying conditions or disabilities that increase their risk of severe illness from COVID-19. That’s a lot of humans—almost half of all Virginians! Additionally, the Richmond and Henrico Health Districts included “food service” folks in 1b (previously part of 1c), which includes restaurant staff—both front and back of house. That’s a big deal, I think! Sabrina Moreno at the Richmond Times-Dispatch has some of the details, including the rationale for shifting restaurant workers up into 1b: “…tight workspaces among restaurant workers—where social distancing from customers without masks is almost impossible, create a high-risk environment for COVID-19. Most food service workers are uninsured or underinsured and lack paid sick leave…many areas of Richmond and Henrico are underserved by grocery stores, restaurants are often important points of access to food for lower-income communities.” At the moment, and, with any luck, for the foreseeable future, vaccine supply is plentiful, but, should it become constrained again, you can read how the Richmond and Henrico Health District will equitably prioritize vaccine doses across all of these newly eligible folks. Your next step, should you want to be vaccinated: Fill out the statewide pre-registration form so you can get in the system!
 

Good morning, RVA! It’s 50 °F, and cooler weather has arrived! Today you can expect temperatures in the upper 60s and, of course, some more morning fog. I think we’ve seen the last of 80-degree days for awhile!

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As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 999↘️ new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 1↗️ new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 126↗️ new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 46, Henrico: 54, and Richmond: 26). Since this pandemic began, 410 people have died in the Richmond region. Last week, the governor signed into law the General Assembly’s request that VDH make public COVID-19 outbreaks in schools and, now, behold: The Kindergarten–12th Grade School Outbreaks dashboard. Before you dig in and post screenshots to Twitter supporting whatever plan for schools your heart desires, take note of a couple things! First, outbreaks are defined as “at least two confirmed cases of COVID-19 where persons are linked by a common exposure to an ill person, setting, event, and time period,” and, specifically, these outbreaks are school-associated, meaning the “transmission occur[ed] within the school setting or at a school-sponsored event between students, staff, or visitor.” Keep in mind that the numbers on this page will probably differ from what schools report as they keep track of students and staff who contract COVID-19. Think of this dashboard as a way to help track the coronavirus cases spread by schools versus the impact that coronavirus has had on schools. Also, this dashboard list both public schools (which have started to offer in-person instruction just recently) and private schools (some of which have operated in-person for a while now). You can filter the data using the drop down in the top right—note that “outbreak pending closure” does NOT meant that the school is about to close but that “28 days have passed without a documented new case and the outbreak has not yet been closed” in VDH’s systems. Asterisks in the table mean fewer than five cases have been reported—to “protect anonymity of cases.” As of this moment, Chesterfield Public Schools had one outbreak on 9/22 (before students returned to in-person instruction), which is now closed.

On Friday, the Governor announced he’ll dedicated $22 million of CARES Act money to “create a statewide program to distribute COVID-19 vaccines when such vaccines are approved for public use.” VDH’s draft vaccination plan exists, but is a PDF too far for even a PDF lover like myself—but maybe you’ll want to dig in? I’m really interested to see how vaccination plays out in the Richmond region. There are about a billion complicated details to distributing a COVID-19 vaccine to the general public: limited supply, ultra-cold storage requirements, reminding folks to take multiple doses if necessary, and some totally legitimate (and totally illegitimate) vaccine hesitancy. It’s a tough knot to untie, and we’ll have to see how much is handled locally, regionally, by the state, and federally—I guess some of that depends on Election Day.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 66 °F, and foggy yet again! What’s with all the ominous build up to Halloween? OK, WE GET IT, SPOOKY. Anyway, today you can expect highs in the 80s as our return to warmer temperatures continues.

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As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 926↘️ new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 28↗️ new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 103↘️ new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 42, Henrico: 36, and Richmond: 25). Since this pandemic began, 391 people have died in the Richmond region. Robert Zullo at the Virginia Mercury works through the most recent University of Virginia coronamodel, which now has a potential new peak of COVID-19 cases the week ending November 22nd. Zullo touches on “COVID fatigue”, and folks' increasing tendency to relax the strategies they’ve adopted to keep themselves and others safe. Don’t do that! Continue to keep your distance, wear your masks, don’t gather in poorly-ventilated spaces, and get tested if you think you might be sick. I know that it’s both hard and boring to keep at this stuff for months and months and months, but it’s so very important to do so!

Read this piece from Mark Robinson at the Richmond Times-Dispatch about the RRHA Housing Choice Voucher Program waitlist and tell me we’re not in an affordable housing crisis. 15,000 people called in to get their names on the waiting list—a waiting list that opened up for the first time since 2015. And it’s worse than that: “Those who signed up last week are not guaranteed a voucher, or even a slot on the waiting list. A computerized lottery will select 5,000 people from the pool for a spot. RRHA will contact each person who applied to notify them of their acceptance or denial by the end of the first week of November. Then, for those on the list, it’s another round of waiting.” We’ve got a crushing need for a massive and ongoing investment in deeply affordable (and public!) housing in our region. I know we’ve got folks working on plans and solutions, but is it enough? I dunno! I think it doesn’t feel like enough??

Good morning, RVA! It’s 59 °F, and today looks like a repeat of yesterday but maybe a bit warmer. Expect highs near 80 °F, some early fog, but otherwise a pretty pleasant day.

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As of this morning, the Virginia Department of Health reports 690↗️ new positive cases of the coronavirus in the Commonwealth and 24↗️ new deaths as a result of the virus. VDH reports 33↗️ new cases in and around Richmond (Chesterfield: 16, Henrico: 8, and Richmond: 9). Since this pandemic began, 387 people have died in the Richmond region. I think it’s really interesting how our local institutions of higher learning are planning for the upcoming spring semester. Virginia Tech just announced their plans which include four fully-online days to kick things off, and then they’ll move in to a mix of virtual and in-person instruction. The university will also split up spring break into five separate one-day breaks to prevent travel. Sounds smart, but definitely less of a recharge for students.

I keep meaning to mention this story in the Richmond Times-Dispatch by Jessica Nocera about Chesterfield’s return to in-person instruction. I’ve been pretty open about how I think returning our littlest learners to in-person instruction is worth doing. However, this is an impossible thing for me to communicate empathetically since I’m not one of the teachers who’d be back in a classroom surrounded by a gaggle of snotty kids. Teachers, obviously, have a real, practical, on-the-ground impact on a school or school district’s ability to reopen. If teachers don’t feel safe—whether that feeling is science-and-studies-based or otherwise—it’s tough to do school. I mean, look at these grim stats from the RTD article: 611 employees have resigned or retired in Chesterfield and nearly 400 of those are coronarelated, the County cut food distribution from 170 sites to 65 because of transportation issues, and “the district is getting by with having school administration employees who have teaching degrees step in and teach in-person classes.” All of that is yikes. If we want some sort of return to in-person instruction, we can’t do it without getting the schools, the teachers, the parents, and the students all on the same page. That’s a major duh, but, at the same time, an incredibly complicated challenge.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 53 °F, and, whoa, look out! Expect highs in the mid 70s after some morning fog. You should expect some pretty great weather over the course of this new week.

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Richmond Police have identified the victim of a murder two Sundays ago. Late morning on October 11th, officers responded to the 100 block of Erich Road and found Ricky G. Seldon, a man in his 30s, shot to death. You can see the police department’s full list of murder victims over on the major crimes section of their website.

Good morning, RVA! It’s 52 °F, and, look!, another great day of weather sits ahead of us. Expect highs in the upper 70s and lots of good vibes. Rain moves in and sets up shop for most of the day tomorrow, though.

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The Richmond Police Department is reporting that Daniel A. Stark, a man in his 30s, was murdered this past Tuesday. Officers arrived to the 1800 block of Fernbrook Drive and found Stark “unresponsive and suffering from trauma.”